Gifts, Debts, and Names
by redemption2
Summary: One-Shot about Deeo as he works through what happened. I know that's not a good summary, but read it anyway. WARNING: Contains major spoilers. Now edited to add more detail. Contains even more spoilers.


Gifts, Debts, and Names

(I own none of Last Exile. Quit bugging me about it.)

A white Vanship overtook the silver one in the swirling black skies. It forced its way through the flock of Rainbirds ahead of it. The Guild prodigy pilot raised his arms in victory. "We did it! We've won, Luciola! Now Immeleman will tell me his name!" Deeo smiled. "We did it! We really did it!" The boy turned around to see the face of his dear friend, but the Navi's seat was empty. "Luciola?" He released his helmet to clear his vision. His childhood confidant isn't there. "Luciola! LUCIOLA!" He got out of the pilot's seat and climbed onto the slick metal surface between the two cockpits. "Is...is it because I told you to get off?" A large piece of wind sheer slammed into the Vanship. The young prince was thrown off of the aircraft. "LUCIOLA!" His tears followed him as the winds of the Grand Stream carried him off and the Vanship was torn to pieces.

The boy floated through the air, hardly any life left in him. He only had enough presence of mind to restore his helmet. "Luciola." His head throbbed, and the mark on the skin of his forehead burned. He began to remember all that happened. The race ran through his mind.

----

He and Luciola stood on their Vanship, perfectly balanced as it floated in front of Claus Valka's pit. "Because you're in the race, Immeleman, I'll do my very best."

Claus leaned on the pit rail. "My name's not 'Immeleman!'"

"If I call you Immeleman, then that's what you shall be. Okay, then, let's make a bet. If I win, you tell me your name."

Ravey Hedde, the fiery Navi, growled at him. "Don't you mean, 'If I lose?'"

"For me, losing is impossible. Luciola, let's go back."

"Understood." They hopped back into the Vanship and headed for their own pit.

-----

"Luciola, give more power to the engines!" Deeo said as he stared down the tailpipe of his rival. Their Vanship slowly pulled away. "Can't you give me any more? Luciola, we'll lose!"

"Any more would be impossible, our fuel tank is filled to the bri...."

"Then get off, Luciola! Right now!" Slowly, Claus and Ravey inched farther and farther ahead of them. The clock struck midnight and the flag waved. Claus and Ravey won the race.

The winner's silver Vanship took a victory lap and then circled to the pits. Deeo and Luciola watched them from above. "You see, they are heading back to the pit area to refuel. They must have not completely filled..."

"Shut up!" Deeo interrupted. "I am not wrong."

------

"That's not why you weren't there. It wasn't because I told you to jump." He remembered the birthday party Arvis threw for him.

------

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Deeo!" Arvis said with glee.

"Here. It's the thought that counts." The mechanical crew gave him small gifts.

Ravey handed him her canteen. "Here you go. It's really good water, so drink it sparingly."

"Thank you, Ravey."

"Here, Deeo." Claus held out a pair of goggles. "They're secondhand, but...."

"Thank you so much, Immeleman!"

"Oh, there's cake too!" Aru pulled out a metal covered plate with cloth over it. She pulled it off, revealing the ugliest cake anyone had ever seen. "Ta-da!"

"Umm."

"Something wrong?" Deeo prodded it with his finger and tasted it. "How is it?"

"It's delicious!"

--------

"Luciola, you didn't give me a present." The day Delphine forced him to undergo his trial.

--------

Two men held Deeo tightly. "Let me go! Let me go I said!" He struggled against them.

Shikarla, Delphine's head man looked him in the eye. "This is fate."

"No! I...I want to stay myself!!" He stared at the spiked chamber as it opened. "No! Stop this! Let me go, please! Call Luciola! Luciola! Luciola!!!" Tears streamed out of his eyes as he was pushed into the chamber. It closed around him.

--------

"I called out your name. You never came." Their childhoods returned to him.

---------

"Psst, hey, Luciola, over here!" A young Deeo waved at him from under the large dinning room table. A young Luciola blinked and went under it with him. The young prince pointed to a pile of dessert. "This is for you, Luciola."

"Huh?"

"We'll keep it a secret from Delphine, okay? Go ahead, it's all for you." Luciola took the spoon at these words and started chomping down on the soft and sweet creation. "Delicious isn't it?"

"Yes, quite."

"Luciola, when you like something, your face has to show it!"

"My face?" He put a hand to it, confused.

The young Deeo pulled up next to him and whispered in his ear. "You know what we are Luciola? We're friends."

-----------

"I called you my friend, my first ever." He then remembered the final time he truly saw the boy.

-----------

Deeo was laughing hysterically, like a man halfway out of his mind, but he was still aware of his surroundings. He sat in the back of a sliver Vanship. Claus and Aru were on the ground talking to Luciola. His best friend spoke to the two guests. "Please, take Deeo and leave."

"But...." Claus started.

"Please. Arvis needs you, and so does Deeo. I couldn't leave him in better hands." He slipped a custom flying hat onto Aru's head. He answered her questioning look. "This was supposed to be a thank you from Deeo for throwing him that party."

"Really?"

"Yes. And this..." He unclipped his ear-stud and stretched it out into a necklace. "Is from me. It will transmit to the safest place in the world."

"You mean we can talk to Ravey with this?"

"Yes. Try talking into it once you leave this base. Now you must go." Luciola turned to leave.

"Wait, Luciola!" Claus reached a hand out to him as he stopped. "What will you do?"

"I will eliminate those that are enemies of Deeo. Now go, or I'll kill all three of you right here!" He dashed off, with Deeo just chuckling in his seat.

------------

"Why did you do it, Luciola? You deserved to live too. Was that...was that your present? A second chance?"

A strong wind buffeted the Guild pilot, causing a rib to crack. Deeo winced through the pain. "What have I done? I've wasted your gift, Luciola. Forgive me." Another gale slammed into him and knocked him unconscious. He flailed around like a rag doll for what seemed like ages. But then, the air was calm. He had crossed the Grand Stream, and he was now plummeting to the planet.

Deeo rose into what seemed like a semi-conscious state. Exile lay on the ground far below him. His eyes fluttered. Three people hopped out of a lone Vanship on its surface. Deeo smiled.

------------

"Hmph. I don't like you." Aru swung back and forth in her swing.

Deeo stood behind her. "What?! Why not?"

"You call Claus by a funny name."

"Immeleman is Immeleman."

"Claus is Claus."

He reached out and grabbed the ropes, stopping the swing. "And you are Arvis."

"You know of me?"

"Of course! Tell me, do you like poetry? I'll read you a poem."

"A poem?"

--------------

"What lies beyond the sky?" He whispered as the Vanship pilot spoke the same aloud.

A loud, but sweet child's voice responded in his head. "Leading the lost child back to the mother. Exile." A single tentacle shot out towards the Guild child as he fainted again.

Claus Valka continued. "The wave that covers the earth in gold?"

Arvis Hamilton glowed as her eyes continued to glaze over. "The breath that bringeth life. The wheat-covered earth."

"The path of the angel's descent?"

"Thou art the path of the great winds. The Grand Stream."

"What lies beyond the memories?"

"The place where everything comes from and everything returns to. The blue planet." Aru's hair buns were blown off and her long golden locks flew freely in the strong breeze. Exile rose from the ground as it transformed into a ship of gold. It shot a beam of light into the sky, and the Grand Stream was no more.

Deeo woke on the ground, with the wiry fingers of a tentacle still gripping him harshly around broken bones, but the tentacle attached to nothingness. A light breeze shattered the now brittle creation. The white haired boy sat up, hissing and laughing in the snow. "I just seem to be one of the ones that just won't die." He stood up slowly, favoring his left leg, his right arm, and half of his ribs. His breathing was heavy. "Luciola, you were my first friend. I won't lose another, not yet anyway." He dragged himself into an open cargo ship and collapsed.

Claus, Ravey, and Arvis sat around the dinner table. With the help of the Sylvanna's mechanical crew, they were able to restore their little alleyway house to its original form, before the Guild ship ravaged it, in a short amount of time. Ravey gave Arvis a large hug for the umpteenth time that day as they worked on the Vanship together. "Okay, that's enough Ravey. You're going to choke me."

Ravey wiped a tear from her eye. "Sorry. I'm just relieved to know that you weren't hurt while unlocking Exile. I didn't want to lose you. You've become a part of this family."

"Thank you, Ravey. I feel like that too." She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. "Whew! I don't think either of us will be a part of this family soon. Claus is burning dinner again."

"Grrr! I told him he should have waited for me!" Ravey wiped her hands off and stormed into the kitchen, with little Aru close behind. "Claus, what did I tell you about cooking without...." She gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. The wrench she held dropped onto her foot, but she didn't take notice. Claus was in the same position, not noticing the burning food in the skillet. They both had their eyes locked on the door, or more accurately, the figure within the doorframe.

Aru quickly removed the ruined food from the heat after she climbed up onto her footstool. The figure moved into the light, and smiled a weak and tired smile as he hobbled. "Hello, Immeleman."

Silence filled the room, as the children still stood in shock. Deeo spoke again. "I believe you owe me something, Immeleman."

Aru held tightly to Claus' arm as she hid herself partially from the former Guild pilot. "Claus owes you nothing."

Aru's grasp pulled Claus out of his stun as he shook his head. "No, he's right. I do owe him." He shook off her arm and walked over to the wounded boy.

"I won the race, Immeleman. Therefore, you must tell me your name as we agreed."

"I am Claus Valka, Vanship pilot. It's an honor to meet you." Claus smiled as he offered his hand to the boy.

Deeo smiled brightly. "My name is Deeo Eracleir. I'm glad to have met you, Claus 'Immeleman' Valka." He shook the pilot's hand. "And I'm proud to call you 'friend.'"

"As am I."

"It's what Luciola wanted." Deeo's world spun. He coughed up blood as he fell to the floor.

Aru swung in her newly installed indoor swing. The creak of the rope against wood caused the young man borrowing her bed to wince. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head towards the girl.

"Immeleman is Immeleman." Deeo groaned.

"Claus is Claus." She countered.

"Immeleman is Claus."

"Claus is Immeleman."

Aru attempted to suppress a giggle, but she failed. Deeo started to chuckle as well, but winced from the pain in his chest and stopped. "And you are Arvis."

"And you are Deeo." Aru hopped off and went over to the bedside. "And you are a friend. Rest now."

"Did you enjoy your gift?"

"I wear it whenever Ravey lets me be Navi."

"That's good." Sleep began to overtake the strange boy. "Thank you for watching over me."

"It's what people do...for family."

Deeo smiled brighter than he ever did before at that moment. "For family." He echoed as he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Ravey entered quietly and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I never thought a name could mean so much."

"A name gives us another sense of uniqueness and value. It enables us to recognize others, and create our own selves. It helps others remember us, and they show us those that we should never forget." The small girl said before she left, letting Ravey take the next watch.

(Author's Note: This was a quick one shot I made in two hours. It's not my best work, but I think it's alright. I used multiple translations from different sources. The first names were all from the Ani-Kraze subtitled translation. I'm sure it could be extended out of the one shot area, but the reviews would have to be REALLY good for that to happen.

If you like this, you'll really love my work in progress: Tales of Evangelion. Check it out on the Evangelion section.)


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